Bava Kamma 97a

בבא קמא צ״ז ע״א

Learn Bava Kamma 97a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Kamma 97a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Using another's slave or ship without permission, and a stolen coin that cracked or was cancelled.

Overview

The גמרא asks how רב can say a slave is like land when he also rules that someone who makes another person's slave work is פטור. It answers that the case is outside working hours, and that the owner even benefits because his slave stays used to working, just as a lived-in courtyard stays in good shape. A story follows: רב יוסף בר חמא used his debtors' slaves. His son רבה shows that for a lender this looks like רבית, and the father takes it back. Next, רב and שמואל argue about someone who uses another's ship, and רב פפא gives two ways to show they do not really disagree. The גמרא then explains the משנה's 'cracked' and 'invalidated' coin. רב הונא and רב יהודה each defend their view, one against rotten fruit and sour wine, the other against impure תרומה. Finally, a new dispute begins about a loan in a coin that was later cancelled, and it continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (22)

1. ChallengeDid רב really say a slave is like land?
2. ResolutionThe case is outside working hours
3. ProofSupport from living in someone's courtyard
4. RejectionThe courtyard and the slave are not the same
5. ResolutionThe owner benefits, since his slave stays used to working
6. Questionרבה asks his father why he uses his debtors' slaves
7. ResponseA slave's work is not worth his food
8. Rejectionרבה says that rule is only about a useless slave
9. ResolutionThe father relies on רב's ruling that the user is פטור
10. ChallengeWith a borrower's slave, it looks like interest
11. ProofProof from living in a borrower's courtyard
12. Conclusionרב יוסף בר חמא takes it back
13. StatementUsing someone's ship: rent or damage?
14. ResolutionNo real dispute: it depends on whether the ship is usually rented out
15. ResolutionSecond answer: it depends on the user's intention
16. Statementרב הונא explains 'cracked' and 'invalidated' in the משנה
17. Statementרב יהודה: government cancellation counts as cracked
18. Challengeרב חסדא challenges רב הונא from rotten fruit and sour wine
19. Resolutionרב הונא answers that the fruit and wine changed but the coin did not
20. Challengeרבא challenges רב יהודה from impure תרומה
21. Resolutionרב יהודה answers that the coin's damage can be seen but the תרומה's cannot
22. StatementA new dispute about a loan in a coin that was later cancelled